Great Day for Ciudad Neilly Branch!

Hello.  My week was pretty good.  I spent from Tuesday until Friday morning in Perez Zeledon trying to help them out up there.  It was ok.  I just missed working in Neilly.  

We had an attendance of 50 on Sunday.  The highest attendance in the history of ciudad Neilly.  Our branch president was so excited he called everyone he knew after church.  Everyone.  He called President Galvez just to tell him that we reached 50.  

I don’t need new shoes..  Mom, i only have 3 months left.. What a waste.   

The new members are great. Karen is now a counselor in the young women’s and were waiting on William since he doesn’t have the Melchizedek priesthood yet.  But he blessed the sacrament last week.  

We had a zone conference last week and elder Bertrand told me that it’s pretty certain that i will open an area next change and train to finish out the mission..  And i was thinking and it’s very possible that i get changed out next week at zone counsel so that we don’t have to travel to san Jose 2 straight weeks..  And so that i can get to the area 1 week early to get stuff ready for the missionary I’m gonna train next week..  But it’s still up in the air.  Next week I will for sure not get on internet until Tuesday because I’ll be traveling..  unless i do have changes Monday then i would be able to..

I’m out…

Love you, Elder Graham

Best News!! (and a new suit)

Wellll  i bought a suit.  For 60$·  Brand new sickest suit.

Hello.  

Saturday some of the sisters in my zone finally gave me some letters that they received for me in the last changes meeting.  I got letters from Jeffery and Jeannette.  They were the best things I’ve ever read.  They both just shared their testimonies and talked about the great changes they have seen in the past year.  Jeffery has the Melchizedek priesthood and they’ve completely finished with the temple prep classes and will be sealed for time and all eternity on June 20^th and I get to go!!  They live in Guapiles now and they live 7 kilometers from the church.  They walk 7 kilometers each way with their 6 kids every single Sunday.  And they say not a single one of them complains.

 I had a decent week.  Things are ok with my companion..  Kinda waiting for changes at this point..  He goes home in June.

I do know elder Henriod. He’s from my group.  I love that kid.  He’s one of the biggest studs in the mission.

Did you send food in the package?  If you did it had to get stuck in customs...  I got an e mail a few weeks ago telling us that any package we receive with food will get stuck in customs..  So i won’t get it until at least may 7th if that’s the case.  But if it’s here tomorrow i have a zone conference in Perez Zeledon and president will bring our mail

 The branch is coming along.  Last week we worked with the relief society and now there’s officially a full presidency and we organized visiting teachers. So we’re hoping that should get things going as well.  We have the elders Quorum president going with us doing home teaching.  So we’re hoping that the growth that we have now has the base to stay strong. 

Pretty nuts about Jase getting married!!

But i gotta go.  Love you.

Elder Graham

Easter Week and Pavones Beach

 The worlds longest left break wave

silly sleeping baby on the beach

Hello mom, I feel like not much has happened since last time i wrote.  All last week nothing happened because there were no buses and no one was home. 

We went to Pavones beach today which is a world famous surf spot.  It has the second longest wave in the world and the world’s longest left break.  There were soo many surfers.  Almost all American and all amazing.  I talked to one guy from Israel that came all the way here to go surfing there.  We left in a microbus that we rented out with a bunch of members and we left at 4 in the morning and just got back.  It’s about a 2 hour drive. 

We had a lesson last night with two families explaining to them that they need to pay their tithing to get out of their financial problems no matter how impossible it may seem to be.  I realized last night how much i will miss doing things like that after the mission.  Being a 21 year old kid with very little real life experience talking to 2 grown men with families and telling them directly and boldly what they need to do to lead their families.  I’ve never been afraid to do it in my mission and i don’t really know why. I think back at a lot of lessons and thinking about it i think i don’t have the guts to say things like that.  Then i do. 

I’m out. Love you!

Elder Graham

Most Beautiful Place in the World....next to Portland!

Matapalo - World Famous Surfing!

Helloo...  How are things?  My week was pretty good.  In the past 17 days I’ve only had 2 full days to work in my area. So that’s coming along.  The zone is pretty good.  It was a zone counsel Monday for just the zone leaders.  When we gave our reports we were the last to report because we always go in order of how well we did.  And when president said the zona sur everyone stood up and gave us applause for meeting the goal.  pres. had us do a little capasitation for all the ZLs about what we have been doing to make such a big change. 

Afterward the APs drove us home and worked yesterday in our zone.  So i came back with Bertrand and Elder Whittaker. The one whose blog you follow.  He’s legitimately the greatest kid ever.  He’s the new AP with elder Bertrand. 

Conference was really good.  I got to watch it in English in a room with 2 others. I absolutely loved all the priesthood session. I thought that was the best session of conference I’ve ever seen.  And I loved the talk on Saturday by elder Hallstrom that talked about members who are active in the church and inactive in the gospel.  So good. 

We had our zone meeting today it. It went pretty good.  I didn’t get to do internet yesterday because of the divisions with the aps. 

Last week we were in Jimenez and found a family then they came to church on Sunday and have a date for the 21st.  But President said that going to Jiménez has been just too much for us so he took it from us and gave it to the missionaries in Rio Claro.  A little disappointing.  I loved going there.  I’m legitimately convinced that it’s the most beautiful place in the world behind Portland/the gorge.  We went to Matapalo last pday which is on the very southern tip of the peninsula and a world famous surf spot. Huge waves and the best surfers I’ve ever seen.  It’s super sick there.  But getting there is the most complicated thing.  We went in the back of a truck there.  An hour and a half ride

Here, they celebrate Easter the whole week and there’s no buses and no one is home.  Our pday is actually Friday for that reason.  We were just supposed to write on Monday.

Got to go. Love you!
Elder Graham